Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Top 20 Departing #13: Stallon Saldivar

I am counting down the top 20 players that are departing the Big Sky via graduation, transfer, or any other way.

Often, guys that post big assists numbers are helped by the fact that they are such a threat to score, and defenses have to be on them tight at all times. With no disrespect to Stallon Saldivar, he was never a great scorer, but he still wound up racking up big assist numbers throughout his career. By the time he was all said and done, Saldivar had 505 career assists, enough to rank him sixth on the Big Sky's all-time list.

His career high in points per game was 6.7 points, and he never shot better than 40.6% from the field or 32% from three, but he worked hard to make everything else about his game as good as it could be. Obviously, his passing was his best skill, and he had as good of court vision as anyone in the conference. His senior year, he also became a very good rebounder, to the tune of 5.6 boards per game, a pretty impressive number for a 6'0'' guard. Remarkably, his DR% was 18.7, which was eighth best in the conference.

Clearly, he was willing to do whatever it took to help the team win. He also improved defensively throughout his career, and his steal percentage got better each season.

Last year, even though he wasn't a major threat from the outside, he did improve a lot on his shots inside. His two-point percentage jumped from 36.6% as a junior to 48.5% as a senior, which is huge.

Saldivar was the only guy in the Big Sky to record a triple-double this year (to my recollection) which speaks to his versatility and willingness to do whatever he could to help the team. The Lumberjacks will miss his leadership and versatility.

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I am a University of North Dakota alum, Denver resident, and college basketball lover. Email me at bigskybball@gmail.com for links, comments, tips, advertising, etc

For the end of the 2015-16 season, Kyle Franko will be taking over the site. He is a former Idaho State beat writer that loves the Big Sky! Email him with any questions, tips, or comments at kyle.franko3@gmail.com